Economy of Japan

The economy of Japan is one of the most vibrant and booming economy in the world. High amount of western influence together with the governmental policy of laissez-faire was mostly responsible for the significant growth in economy of Japan in the post second world war period. However it should be mentioned here that the economic boom in Japan lasted only for half a century and Japan began experiencing a significant downfall since the last decade of the 20 th century. There are certain factors which had contributed to the exceptional growth of Japanese economy like, almost 100% literacy rate, work ethics, insurmountable technology and cheap fuel mainly oil.

Some of the sectors of Japanese economy which enjoyed the highest percentage of growth are automobile industry, innovative technological sector, electrical products and domestic items. Within 1950 to 1970 the rise of GDP was from 21% to 56% and in the years after 1985 the economy witnessed a steady downfall. The collapse was termed by media and the economists as the bursting of the 'bubble economy'. However since 1995 some sort of recovery is coming in to the way of Japanese economy though it is still unable to achieve its earlier standards.



Japanese Real Estate
In Japan real estate properties are available in plenty. There are lots of houses and apartments in all major cities and downtown areas that can be bought or taken on rent or lease. There are many real estate agencies in Japan, Real Estate agents in Japan and brokers also, who help their customers to get a suitable home or apartment.

In the major city areas and prefectures lots of real estate properties in Japan are available. But the price of these real estate properties in Japan , vary according to location and facilities that are offered with the real estate properties or homes and apartments.

There are a number of real estate agents and agencies in Japan. These real estate agents have their own real estate property list from which their clients can choose their apartments or new homes according to their budget and preferred location. Some of these real estate agencies in Japan are :-

• Daikyo Inc. situated at, 4-24-13 Sendagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan .
• MDI Corporation located at, 1-8-1 Shinju-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
• Mitsubishi Estate which has its office at 2-7-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan.

There are many other reliable and efficient real estate agents in Japan. Lots of real estate properties are on sale in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and all other major and downtown areas in Japan . Some of the homes in Tokyo area are,

• Hiroo situated near the station Ebisu. This is available at about 1100000 Japanese Yens.
• Shoto is another real estate property available near Shibuya at about 1300000 Japanese Yens.
• Kamiyacho is a real estate property that is located near the main rail station in Tokyo . This home is available at about 3000000 Japanese Yens.

Japan is the only country that can boast of being a developed country from the status of a developing country in the post World War period depending on its tremendous growth in economy. At present Japan stands at the second place regarding its market economy in the whole world. The factors that are in work behind this extraordinary development of the economy of Japan are, cooperation between the government and public sector industries, use of high technology, paying tremendous value to work, high rate of savings and some other matters.

The main strength of Japan's economy is its manufacturing industry . But Japan has very few resources of nature. As a result Japan has to buy lot of minerals from other countries. Over decades agriculture and fishery have also become important sources of development for the Japan economy. Labor work force and the several services also contributes largely in strengthening the economy of Japan.

Japan is an island country and many of its islands have mountains and dense forest where transportation system is not much developed. As a result, in Japan there are very few lands that are suitable for farming. Japan imports lots of food grains every year. The main agricultural product of Japan is rice. Japan also has a rich resource of marine products. Fishery industry is very developed in Japan. Regarding fish catch Japan stands second in the whole world just after China. Japan can boast of its fishing fleet that is the largest in the whole world.

In industry related matters Japan has both heavy and small industry together with manufacturing industry. The industries in which Japan uses its technological development very much effectively are optical fibers, optical media, semiconductors, copy machine, industrial robots and many more. Some of Japan 's most familiar industrial areas are, Canto region, Tokai region, Kinki region and many others.

The service sectors in Japan that accounts for the high development in the economy of Japan are, real estate, transportation, banking, insurance and telecommunication. Some of the worlds renowned factories of Japan in these field are, Toyota Financial Group, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Nomura Group Inc and so on.

After World War Japan had seen many ups and downs in the way of its economic growth. But still it has proved itself to be one of the giants in the open market of today's economy.

Japanese Mortgage Rates
As Japan has one of the most vibrant economies of the world and the mortgage market of Japan is also very thriving. However it should be mentioned here that after the bursting of the 'bubble economy' mortgage in Japan had also witnessed certain changes. The rate of mortgage loans was comparatively higher than the commercial loans. The serious fall in the mortgage interest rate was a concern to the Japanese government though it was better than its commercial counterparts. At this point there was also a significant decrease in the cost of property and house.

The recent scenario of mortgage in Japan is that the corporate has basically stopped borrowing from the banks thus the banks had to mainly depend on personal loans mainly housing. The average mortgage rate of Japan is 2.37%.

Some of the mortgage lenders of Japan are:

• Jukeikai Co., Ltd
• The Mortgage Corporation of Japan, ltd
• Daiwa Estate Company, Limited
• Royal Home Center, Company, Limited
• Osaka Marubira, Company ,Limited

There are two types of mortgage rates in Japan fixed and floating the rates also vary with the number of years. Like for example, 5 years of fixed mortgage rate is from 2.23% to 2.68% and 15 year fixed rate mortgage rate is 2.81%to 3.26%.

Apart from these mortgage agencies, the banks of Japan also give mortgage loan to the residents of the country. All the leading cities like Tokyo and Osaka have a number of agencies providing this kind of service. Foreigners only having a permanent residency status are liable for a mortgage loan in Japan .

Japanese Homes and Real Estate
Japanese homes have their distinct qualities and interesting patterns and designs. Japanese homes are built simply by wood and their interior decorations are done using natural things like woods, bamboos, grass made mats and carpets and lots of other things. Japanese pattern of interior decoration is very popular among other cultures of the world because of their attractive simplicity.

Japanese houses have a long history in the way of their development. Previously there were two types of houses . One was built by digging columns inside the ground and making house on it. It was known as the pit-dwelling house. The other was built on elevated floors to beat the seasonal harms. After that traditional Japanese home were built in the middle of a decorated garden and this type of houses was called Shinden-zukuri. The famous patterns of houses popularized by the Samurais were called, Shoin-zukuri. But while these two types of houses were popular among the higher class people, the general people and farmers used to live in some differently built houses. Development of houses was continued in Meiji era also. At present Japanese homes are a combination of both Samurai design and modern designs.